This is book #5 in the Wildstone series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  For reader enjoyment, and to understand the series, I recommend reading this series in order.

 

Brynn comes home after another boyfriend makes her feel less than herself.  The bright spot in her life is her Mom's.  They may be in her business but they bring the fun.  Also being at home she runs in to Eli.  The very Eli with whom she made the summer deal.

 

Eli has his hands full with Kinsey and her health.  With a breath of fresh air, Brynn comes  back to town and its like he can breathe again.  With his protective attitude, he enjoys being in both women's lives.  Even though he is only best friends with Kinsey, her friendship is more like family.

 

This story just kind of pounded into my head.  I felt like each chapter was a sock to the stomach and was like watching a very loud play.  So much action, so much to it, I felt a little overwhelmed.  I do not normally say this about this author's books.  This was a hard one to finish.  Honestly if it was not an author I love well, I would not have bothered.  I give this a 3/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

 

 

***This copy was given in exchange for an honest review by Edelweiss and its publishers.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I loved this book! I have been a fan of Jill Shalvis's books since I picked up one of her books a few years ago. I haven't read all of her books yet but I have kept up with all of her more recent releases. This book might be my favorite out of those I have read. I had such a great time with this book and found it really hard to put down. This book is the fifth book in the Wildstone series but each of the books in the series read as stand-alone novels so you can feel free to jump into the series anywhere.

I was taken by the cast of characters in this story right away. Brynn is going back home to her two moms in Wildstone after being taken advantage of by her boyfriend. Kinsey has lived with major health problems for a long time and feels like she has an expiration date so she avoids making connections with the exception of Eli. Eli has been Kinsey's best friend since they were kids. He has had plenty of his own issues but he watches out for Kinsey even though they are just friends. Brynn, Kinsey, and Eli all went to summer camp together and some of their memories of each other are less than pleasant.

All of the characters in this book felt very authentic to me. Brynn's entire life was turned upside down but she working to put things back together. I loved her two moms but understood her desire to be out on her own. Kinsey has been dealing with some pretty big health issues for years and I thought that she had a pretty good attitude about everything. Eli has been through a lot of things in his life but he still wants to take care of those that he is close to.

This book did a lot of things really well. I love the romance between Brynn and Eli and thought that they were great together. I was thrilled that we got a second romance in this book with Kinsey and Beck and I thought that their story was really well done. The relationship between Kinsey and Brynn was really pivotal to the book. I enjoyed seeing them open up and start to trust each other. I thought that getting a glimpse of how they saw each other as kids through their journal entries added a lot to the story.

I would highly recommend this book to others. I thought that it was a very well done story with a great cast of characters that focused on a variety of relationships. I cannot wait to read more from Jill Shalvis!

I won an advanced review copy of this book from William Morrow Paperbacks through a giveaway on Goodreads.

Initial Thoughts
I loved this book. It falls somewhere between 4 and 5 stars for me and I am rounding up for now. I loved the characters in this book and their complicated relationships just seemed to work for me. There were a lot of things going on in this story and I think that the characters all really grew throughout the book. It was a lot of fun to see them all work to improve their relationships.

Reviewed for Wit and Sin

 

The Summer Deal is a love note to messy, wonderful families, both the ones we make and the ones we’re born into. Jill Shalvis’s fifth Wildstone novel features the imperfect characters and bumpy roads to a heartwarming happily ever after that I’ve come to expect and enjoy from this series.

Brynn has come home to Wildstone with a bruised heart and a lack of trust in her own instincts. Brynn is kind, quirky, and somewhat of a mess at the beginning but I loved watching her learn to stand up for herself over the course of the story. The person who pushes her to do that isn’t a love interest, but rather her old summer camp frenemy (and secret half-sister), Kinsey. Kinsey claims to have a black heart but really what she is is fearful. She’s been sick most of her life and has been battling kidney transplant rejection for years. Kinsey feels like she has an expiration date and she doesn’t want to hurt others by letting them in, so she pushes them away first. She and Brynn don’t have the best history, but Ms. Shalvis shows why each of them acted the way they did as children and it makes sense. These are flawed heroines, but they’re relatable because of it and it’s easy to root for both of them.

Brynn and Kinsey’s relationship is central to The Summer Deal, but that doesn’t mean Ms. Shalvis skimped on the romance. Kinsey is clearly in love with her non-boyfriend Deck, a caring, incredibly patient nurse and father. It’s obvious from the start that Deck wants more with Kinsey, but her fear may cost them a shot at happiness. And the main love story is between Brynn and Kinsey’s lifelong best friend, Eli. Eli might just be one of my favorite Jill Shalvis heroes. He’s a sexy-as-sin marine biologist with a marshmallow heart. Eli has been rejected more than once by people who should have loved him and he’s afraid of getting hurt (a theme in this story). But Brynn has always captured his interest so she slides quite easily into his heart. Eli cares for people deeply and it shows every time he’s on the page. He’s pretty much the perfect hero and I can’t count how often he made me melt. It was easy for me to fall into his and Brynn’s romance and even though I could see the obstacles that would inevitably come their way, I was rooting for them every step of the way.

The Summer Deal is a heartwarming story of healing, family, and love. I enjoyed everything about this book and I look forward to revisiting Brynn, Kinsey, Eli, and Deck again soon.


FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

 

Just a Summer Deal - Zach Jenkins,E. Dav... Aaron Douglas is an out and pride author of MM romance. He's living up life and has a new guy on his arm when he's doing so. When he find out his favorite MM author is living in the same town as him. He jumps at the chance to message him and invite him to meet up.

Conor Kennedy is in a small town in Colorado to do a fixer upper project on a farm house so he can sell it possibly add to his much needed income. He's also a "straight guy" writing MM romances. When he sees a message from fellow author Aaron to meet up and talk shop. He's more than willing to meet up and get advice from a veteran in the industry.

The hit it off and even decided to co-author a series together. A summer deal is struck.

It was a bit slow in portions of the story and in those parts it felt like the story was dragging. The way the two met and got along was good to see and mimicked what most RL couples would experience. I didn't enjoy reading the two nitpicking/nagging at each other. I also felt that Aaron kind of forced Conor to come out. His immaturity towards the end really turned me off. But it was interesting to see how these two came together, worked together and built their relationship.

An ARC was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.